Should I take Kaplan during school if MCAT is this summer?

[Kbrock]

Hey guys, this is my first time posting on these forums. I plan to take the MCAT during the summer, and intend to take a Kaplan Course during this coming spring semester with a light load of 12 hours. I don't know how long the course will last, but I'm guessing it will be over long before summer starts. I then want to study on my own for maybe a month or two with books and take the MCAT in June or July.

Is it therefore even worth it to do the Kaplan course in advance or will it just be out of my head by the time summer comes? If not, when should I take it?



(I know I'd like to take the course because it provides structure and I may not be the most self-disciplined individual initially. I do have good study habits however.)

THANKS GUYS!

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[LittleRichard]

Focus on getting good grades right now. If you start studying in May (I assume thats when your summer break starts?), you should be plenty ready if you take the test in July. But, if you really want to take the test in June, you should probably start studying a little earlier than that. You need a solid two months of studying to do well on the test.

 

[Kbrock]

Focus on getting good grades right now. If you start studying in May (I assume thats when your summer break starts?), you should be plenty ready if you take the test in July. But, if you really want to take the test in June, you should probably start studying a little earlier than that. You need a solid two months of studying to do well on the test.

Good point. Thank you for your response. The kaplan course won't add to my GPA which I want to get to a 3.75 by the end of next semester. My only premedical course left is physics 2 and then some relatively easier upper level bios for the major that I'll complete senior year. So my plan was to take just phys 105 and some easy electives to satisfy graduation requirements.

A friend who knows me and took the DAT (got a 23) told me my study habits are more than good such that I should be able to study for it just using the kaplan books and not the class, seeing as you do most of the work outside the class anyway. Should I just get the books and study for those two summer months? Does that work for most people? (My target is anything above a 30)

 

[PiBond]

If you are just considering a self-study program than I would strongly recommend using different books. Check out Sn2's study guide (top of MCAT discussion page) to get a feel for the general consensus regarding materials.